DURANGO DHARMA CENTER

The Durango Dharma Center Family Program has been created to serve as a resource to families who wish to practice mindfulness and compassion in everyday life. (Scroll down to read Family Program Reflections—The “Sacred Moment”). Our current program offerings are as follows:

Family Fridays

This program is designed to give families the opportunity to practice together. It will include guided meditations and mindful activities to support your family practice.

Fall 2011Dates: Oct. 7, Nov. 4, Dec.2 

Time: 5:30-6:30 pm Meeting
Place: Durango Dharma Center, see directions on web site 

Contact: Judy Austin, randyandjudy@gobrainstorm.net or 970-764-7142

Due to space restrictions, it is necessary to pre-register for each month’s session. Registration fee is $5.00 per family, and activities are designed for children in 1st-5th grade and their parents. No prior experience is required to participate, but spaces will be filled on a first-come first serve basis and is limited to 8 families or 26 participants. No childcare will be provided for children under the age of 6.

Book Club

Book Club is a Kalyana Mitta (spiritual friends) group composed of parents who would like to read books that focus on the practice of mindful parenting and parenting from the perspective of the Dharma. The group follows a talking circle format and is mentored by Katherine Barr, CDL. Come join others who want to explore the use of mindfulness as we negotiate the world of children!

We are currently reading Everyday Blessings by Myla and Jon Kabat-Zinn. In January, we will begin a new book, John Gottman's Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child.

Fall 2011 Dates: First Thursday of the month
Time: 6:45-8:15 

Meeting Place: Durango Dharma Center (unless otherwise noted)

Contact: Bonnie Gnehm, bonniebliss@mac.com, 970-764-0620

Since the group is already in progress, please contact Bonnie Gnehm if you are interested in joining.

Half-day Mindful Parenting Retreats

Additionally this year, Katherine Barr and Maureen Fallon-Cyr will be offering Half-Day Retreats for parents and guardians. Join us as we take time to relax and settle into “calm abiding” and explore ways to deepen and support our practice during the “parenting years”.

Fall 2011 Date: Saturday, November 5, 2011 Time I:00 – 5:00 p.m. Meeting Place: Durango Dharma Center
Contacts: Maureen Fallon-Cyr, mofcyr@hotmail.com, 970-749-1691 and Katherine Barr, katgb@frontier.net, 970-769-3417.

Family Program Reflections--The “Sacred Moment”

In order to serve our families better, the Family Program will be orienting our teachings around the remembrance of The Sacred Moment. The demands and long-term commitment to parenting necessitate that if we are to have an alive spiritual practice, we need to practice in the moment with our children and our families. We offer this paradigm to our parents as a way to mindfully work with the challenges that arise with our children:

• To remember that whatever is happening, this is a Sacred Moment. Our children will not be with us forever. This moment, just as it is, is a scared time in our lives. Believe it or not, there will be a time when we will wish for these days!
• To take a Sacred Pause, and authentically notice what you are really feeling. It is okay to honestly acknowledge what we are really feeling. A mindfulness practice is about acknowledging “what is,” not what we wish it to be. Even good parents feel overwhelmed, scared, hateful, and frustrated at times.
• To take a Sacred Breath, to breathe in the practice of Metta, or Loving-Kindness. “May I be filled with Loving-Kindness. May I be Peaceful and at Ease.” Bringing a kind, loving attitude to ourselves, especially when we are struggling.
• To ask ourselves, “What is this Sacred Age of the child in this moment?” All of us know what it feels like to be hijacked by our inner child. Every day we experience moments when we feel like a four year old ourselves. So too, our children regress under stress. So when your child is acting out, ask “At what age would this behavior be normal?”
• To Parent the Sacred Age as if the child truly is that age in this moment. Imagine your eight year old is caught stealing; it would be normal for a four year to experiment with stealing. How would you parent a four year old who stole? When we adults are acting four years old, don’t we “know better”? Of course we do; we just can’t help it! At that moment, we all usually need a hug or a helping hand.
• To Bow to the Sacred Messiness. Human life is full of “conditions are such” that the apple cart gets tipped over every day. We don’t know why things happen as they do, but often on the other side of our challenges, we have a clearer comprehension of events. At times, powerful (and sometimes, painful) lessons are revealed to us through our children. So, we bow to the Messiness. We might not have chosen it, but we are often unknowingly blessed by it!

We hope to cultivate these reflections as a habit-of-mind at the Family Program. May they prove helpful to your practice. We look forward to seeing you!